'Real-life Cinderella' claims sisters stole her inheritance

Where there's a will, there's a row...

A woman who describes herself as a 'real-life Cinderella' is accusing her two half-sisters of stealing her inheritance.

Sasha Cochrane was just 19 when her father Peter died, leaving a life insurance payout of £120,000. Saha has two younger sisters and two older half-sisters, Amanda and Claire, Peter's daughters from a previous marriage.

But, Sasha tells the Sunday Mirror, she has discovered that Amanda and Claire kept all the money for themselves - and have since blown most of it on partying and holidays.

Soon after Peter's death in 2011, the insurers wrote to all five women telling them that they were entitled to £24,000 each. But when six months later Sasha had received nothing, she contacted the insurers to chase up the payment.

To her horror, she was that told that Amada and Claire, who were the administrators of the policy, had been paid the full £121,000 two weeks before.

And, says the paper, the pair then claimed that they couldn't pay the two younger sisters their due, as there was little money left. Some, they said, had been spent on funeral costs and solicitor's fees. They offered Sasha and her younger sisters £10,000 each.

"Obviously £10,000 is a lot of money, but considering they were intending to keep £45,000 each for themselves it made no sense," she said. "It makes me furious."

Claire and Amanda have defended their actions.

"If she wants to go naming and shaming me and my sister, she can. We offered £15,000 each to the girls and they refused it. I can't remember what it all worked out at," says Claire.

"They wanted £25,000 each, but why should they have it, bearing in mind they had everything all their lives off my dad, and me and Amanda had nothing?"

Sadly, the death of a parent can frequently cause financial disputes amongst siblings, making an already tragic situation worse.

Last year, we reported on the case of Eirian Davies, a 45-year-old farmer's daughter, who says she was paid a tiny wage for working on the farm while her sisters were allowed to enjoy themselves. But while, she says, this was on the understanding that she'd inherit, she was later written out of her parents' wills and told to leave the farm.

But such rows are often counter-productive, as the Burgess family found out. After their mother died, leaving £200,000, disputes about who was owed what led to legal costs that were greater than the bequest itself.

Sasha Cochrane says she would like to sue - but doesn't think she can afford it.